Gifting Plastic Surgery During the Holidays—a Growing Trend

The holidays are prime time for ice skating, sipping peppermint lattes, and going to see The Nutcracker—and for getting nips, tucks, and injectables, too. Gifting plastic surgery for Christmas or Hanukkah is a thing, and apparently a big one. “Probably at least a third of any plastic surgery happens in the last quarter of the year,” says Daniel C. Mills, a plastic surgeon and the president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. “Part of it is that many people have the time off from work already. And they’re also more likely to go at this time to get a little pick-me-up for all the holiday cheer—photos, parties, etc.” The American Academy of Facial and Plastic Reconstructive Surgery (AAFPRS) reports exactly that kind of holiday boom: Cosmetic treatments and surgeries increase by about 25 percent from Thanksgiving through New Year’s Eve, and facial-rejuvenation treatments end up as stocking stuffers. Facial plastic surgeon and former AAFPRS president Edwin Williams says the demand for gift cards at his New York practice grows 10 to 15 percent each year, with nonsurgical procedures, like Botox, being especially popular, increasing 30 to 35 percent in the months of November and December. (Less-invasive treatments, like Botox and skin-resurfacing, can seem less medical and more like an extreme spa day.) For Mills, there’s kind of a new year/new face trend: “I do a lot of face-lifts this time of year,” he says. “There are seasons for everything. Breast-augmentation season begins right after there’s a new Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. Second quarter, we do more lipo—people getting ready for summer.”

But what of these gift certificates? Who is buying them? Are they doing it diligently? And are the receivers happy to get them?

Read in a Seinfeld Voice: “Who Are These People?”

The most common buyers are husbands—and the gift cards are often for breast augmentation for their wives, says Mills. “Younger husbands are more likely to do this as a surprise; with more mature, older couples, the wife will often initiate and say, ‘Hey, why don’t we do this for Christmas?’ Obviously communication is key. For this to really work well, it should be when they've already talked about it in some way." Doctors have a chance to suss that out during the consultations and exam prior to a surgery. “The first time we see the patients isn’t the day of surgery—that would be ludicrous,” says Mills. A good surgeon will vet a patient especially well if they’re coming in with a gift card to make sure that this procedure is something the patient wants and that he or she is not being pressured into it by a partner.

Besides actually being in the right head space for surgery, a patient should also be an ideal physical candidate. Some will be eliminated if they’re not in good health. For example, if they have a bleeding condition, that might complicate the procedure. Mills says he would give the money back for a gift card that the receiver couldn’t or did not want to use. [Writer’s note: In the latter case, I’d personally want to refund it to the receiver as the giver’s punishment for such a bad gift selection. Kidding!}

The bottom line is that nobody should be buying this gift for someone who hasn’t already expressed repeated interest in getting cosmetic surgery—unless what the giver wants in return is a festively gift-wrapped hand slapping them in the face. "If it's just the husband's idea for the breast augmentation, that's the wrong motivation," says Mills. And a person simply stating being dissatisfied with a body part isn’t enough. According to one article, a husband in Albuquerque discovered that the hard way after he had a plastic-surgeon pal mock up a breast augmentation certificate for his wife—who had often said she hated the size and shape of her breasts. Upon unwrapping the gift, she burst into tears and not the Kay Jewelers–commercial kind. The couple eventually split prompted in no small part by this crappy Christmas offering, their almost-doctor recalled.

If you are going to gift surgery to someone, doing your due diligence means checking out the doctor, too. Are they reputable? Scroll through Yelp and surgery message boards for scathing reviews. Ask the doctor directly if he or she ever turns away patients. And most importantly, know if the doctor is board-certified. “There's something like 7,000 doctors in this country calling themselves plastic surgeons,” says Mills. “But there are really only about 5,500 to 6,000 truly board-certified plastic surgeons.” If a doctor is doing these procedures without having all of the specialty schooling or experience, they’re a riskier choice. And are probably more likely to refuse a refund to someone who doesn’t want to use their certificate, according to Mills.

Alabama facial plastic surgeon and current AAFPRS president Fred Fedok is especially wary of doctors offering cosmetic-procedure discounts on Groupon (a topic Allure has covered in the past). “One of the main problems with these types of deals is that consumers assume a treatment at clinic A will be the same as a treatment at clinic B,” says Fedok. “However, the quality of staff training, service, and results can vary dramatically from office to office. When selecting a Groupon or discount offer, the excitement at getting the ‘deal’ may overshadow due diligence in selecting a qualified provider. The aspect of an individualized treatment plan is also missing. Cosmetic treatments are not one size fits all.”

If you want cosmetic surgery as gift from your partner, you can avoid some of the complications by dropping some specific knowledge on your wish list—research surgeons and say exactly who you want to go to. “Communication is key in any relationship,” says Mills (who has been “married to the same gal" for 33 years). “This is no different.”